


Families are made in the heart

by kaijuborn



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Violence, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 11:06:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8325385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaijuborn/pseuds/kaijuborn
Summary: When Gabriel Reyes saw Jesse McCree sitting in the interrogation room, defiant and beat up, he couldn't help but wonder what had gone wrong in the kid's life. He also couldn't help but wonder if he could make it right again somehow.





	

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I uploaded something! I actually wrote this quite a while ago but I intended it to be much longer, but I've been stuck with it for some time now. I figured I'd upload what I have and hopefully that makes me more motivated to finish it in another chapter or two!
> 
> Hope you like it! <3

Gabriel stared at the kid sitting in the chair in the interrogation room. He looked like a mess, and it was no wonder. They had just gotten back from effectively wiping out the Deadlock gang, arresting and terminating hundreds of criminals in one large operation that had run smoothly from start to finish.

 

Jesse McCree was one of those criminals. Gabriel had heard of him, plenty of people had, but he hadn't expected him to actually be as  _young_ as the rumors told. This was Jesse McCree, notorious gang member and one of the best killers Deadlock had to offer. 

 

He looked absolutely ridiculous.

 

He was a scrawny thing, clothes were obviously hand-me-downs, unless they were simply whatever the kid had managed to fish out of a dumpster, his hair was an unruly mess hidden underneath a far too big cowboy hat, and he had a goddamn belt that said  _BAMF_ on the buckle. The kid had put up a fair fight during the operation, taking out a couple of Gabriel's agents and incapacitating a few more. He had the marks to show it, too; cuts and bruises, and blood stains on his clothes. Despite all of it, and despite his hands being tied to the chair, he still glared at Gabriel with a commendable amount of hatred. 

 

“I'm guessing this isn't the first time you've been in an interrogation room?” Gabriel asked, arms crossed. No answer. “Right. Well, we can do this the hard way, or we can do this the easy way.”

 

“ _Fuck you_ ”, Jesse said, in Spanish. Gabriel barked out a startled laugh, which obviously wasn't the response Jesse was looking for. 

 

“ _Think you're tough, huh?_ ” Gabriel spoke Spanish too, which seemed to take the kid aback. “You realize I'm the one who decides what happens to your future, right? You're not going back to Deadlock. It doesn't exist anymore.” He was quiet for a moment, letting the fact sink in. He could see something shift in Jesse's eyes, but he couldn't quite determine what. “So. Either you're going to jail, or you're coming with me.”

 

A brief look of surprise crossed over Jesse's face before he seemed to realize he was supposed to be angry.

 

“The fuck are you talkin' 'bout?”

 

“You've got talent”, Gabriel said, telling the truth. “I've heard the stories. Hell, I've seen what you did to some of my best men. You've been running around like Billy the Kid, acting like a cowboy. Thinking you're tough.” He paused again, observing Jesse's reaction. He looked reluctantly flattered. Gabriel cocked his head to one side. Billy the Kid had only been twenty one when he died. “How old are you anyway?” Gabriel asked. “Twenty, twenty five?”

 

Jesse had returned to sullen silence. Gabriel picked up the folder on the table in front of him, flipping through the pages. Countless reports of robbery, murder and manslaughter, theft, illegal gambling, breaking and entering… the list went on. A recently updated bounty showed the hefty price put on the kid's head. There was a generous amount of printed copies of fake IDs as well, ranging from the ages of twenty to thirty five. Finally, he found the kid's real ID.

 

He stared at it.

 

“… You're seventeen.”

 

He looked up at the kid. Jesse glared back at him.

 

Gabriel took a deep breath, closing the folder and putting it down on the table again. He sat down in the chair opposite Jesse, leaning forward and studying him. He was only seventeen. What had gone wrong in his life? How long had he been doing this? How had he been able to accumulate such a bounty over nothing but a few years? What the fuck was he doing, running around with Deadlock, selling illegal arms and killing people?

 

Jesse was a killer, a murderer. Robber and thief, gambler and con artist. There was only one place for people like him: A max prison.

 

Gabriel heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stop a headache threatening to bloom behind his forehead. Jesse seemed a bit unsure as to how he should take Gabriel's reaction, watching him wearily. Looking back up at the kid, Gabriel could suddenly see how young he really was. There was fear in his eyes, carefully hidden behind the loathing and the defiance.

 

Now, Gabriel wasn't exactly softhearted, but he still couldn't help but feel for the kid.

 

“ _What happened to you?_ ” Gabriel wondered, softly, in Spanish. Jesse shifted a bit, confused. “ _Where's your family? Do they know you're running around with Deadlock? Do they care? … Do you even have a family?_ ” Apparently, that hit a sore spot. Jesse averted his eyes, clenching his teeth. Gabriel nodded a bit. “ _Deadlock's a shit place to look for people who care. I'm guessing you just want a place to belong. I can give you that._ ” Jesse said nothing and did nothing, stubbornly staring down at the table between them. “ _In Blackwatch you'll have people who look out for you, care for you. You'll get to work for a good cause, and you'll get paid doing it. Basically you'll be able to do exactly what you've been doing, only you'll be doing it for the good guys._ ”

 

Jesse was quiet for a long moment. Gabriel studied him in silence, watching his eyes flicker back and forth in thought. Finally, Jesse raised his chin and met his gaze.

 

“What's the catch?” 

 

Gabriel shrugged a little, sweeping out with his hands.

 

“No catch. Except if you don't accept my offer you'll go to prison, of course.” 

 

Gabriel leaned back in his chair and eyed Jesse. He was a bit worried the kid would say no, simply out of spite. If he did Gabriel would fucking force him to join Blackwatch. There was no way he was sending him to jail. The kid would never survive in there; his cowboy act and defiant spirit would be crushed, if he wasn't literally killed by one of the other inmates. If he somehow did manage to get through it all in one piece, he'd still be a hardened monster when he came back out, and he'd probably get thrown in jail again within a month.

 

There was still time to save him.

 

Jesse averted his gaze again.

 

“Fine”, he said, clearly not happy about it. Gabriel relaxed a bit. 

 

“Good. Starting tomorrow, you're a Blackwatch agent.”

 

* * *

 

 

Gabriel had trouble finding Jesse the following day, which worried him a bit. He wasn't at the shooting range, where he was supposed to be, or in the canteen, where Gabriel had assumed he would be for a late breakfast. He had made it perfectly clear to the kid what would happen if he tried to go back on their deal, that killing or hurting other Blackwatch members would get him sent straight to jail, and that trying to escape from the base was next to impossible.

 

Frowning, Gabriel headed down the corridors towards the lower ranking agents' sleeping quarters. It was well past eleven in the morning and Jesse should have been at the shooting range at nine. Gabriel had sent a message to him, and he knew Jesse had seen it. He also knew there was an automatic alarm clock in the handheld device he had given to Jesse, which would have alerted him in case he had managed to forget.

 

He found Jesse's room and knocked on the door, hard. Taking a step back, he crossed his arms and waited. A couple of agents passed by, giving him curious glances. Gabriel ignored them. After a moment he knocked again, still with no answer.

 

Gabriel grumbled and reached out for the door handle. He hadn't expected the door to actually be unlocked.

 

Opening it and stepping inside the room, Gabriel thought it was abandoned at first. Everything was neat and orderly, just like he had left it yesterday. He had half expected the kid to immediately trash the room, just because he could. But no. Gabriel's gaze fell on the lumpy shape in bed, almost completely covered by the sheets. Only a bush of hair sticking out in one end told him that Jesse was still in bed. His dumb hat lay on top of the dresser, and his clothes hung over the back of a chair. It had turned out the kid didn't have much in terms of belongings, besides his gun and the clothes on his back.

 

Gabriel walked over to the window and pushed the curtains aside, letting the sunlight stream into the room.

 

“Hey, kid. Get up”, he said, voice raised. Jesse didn't even stir. Gabriel couldn't help but feel a tinge of worry. The kid had slept through his alarm, Gabriel knocking on the door and the room lighting up. Was he actually asleep, or was he…?

 

Gabriel stepped closer to the bed and pulled back the sheets, revealing a Jesse so deep in sleep he could have been dead if not for the faint snoring. Incredulous, Gabriel stared at him. He had drooled all over the pillow.

 

“Hey”, Gabriel said again, grabbing Jesse's shoulder and giving him a shake. He had to do it twice more before Jesse showed any signs of waking up. He grunted and coughed, shifting and stretching. 

 

Jesse cracked open one eye and noticed Gabriel standing over him.

 

“Fuckin' hell”, Jesse blurted, scrambling to sit up and get as far away from Gabriel as possible. 

 

Gabriel couldn't help but smirk a little, leaning back.

 

“I assume you slept well?” he wondered, raising an eyebrow. Jesse glanced at the window and seemed to realize how late it was. He looked back up at Gabriel with a look in his eyes that Gabriel didn't like, even though it took a moment for him to place it. It was fear. Fear of what Gabriel would do to him for oversleeping, probably. Heart aching, Gabriel sighed. “Come on, you're late.”

 

Gabriel stepped out of the room to allow Jesse some privacy as he got changed. He had been given a number of standard Blackwatch uniforms; all black training clothes and a pair of boots. He looked a bit more decent in it, though he still insisted on wearing his cowboy hat and the  _BAMF_ belt. 

 

They walked through the corridor in silence, Jesse a couple of steps behind Gabriel, with his head hanging. Despite sleeping for so long, he looked exhausted.

 

Gabriel took a turn and Jesse's steps faltered behind him. Looking back, Gabriel saw that the kid had stopped walking, a confused expression crossing his face.

 

“I thought the shootin' range was thataway?” He gestured down the hall. 

 

“It is”, Gabriel admitted. “But the kitchen's this way. When was the last time you got a decent meal?” He watched Jesse's face slacken in bewilderment. “You hungry or what?”

 

Quietly nodding, Jesse started walking again, following him. Gabriel lead him to the kitchen, as promised. The two guys on kitchen duty were already busy preparing lunch for the other agents, but brought out some leftover breakfast when Gabriel asked them to. Jesse got a big tray filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, a bowl of yoghurt, a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee, all of which he eyed suspiciously when Gabriel put it in front of him.

 

“What's this?” Jesse wondered. Gabriel gave him an amused look and Jesse looked a bit annoyed. “I know what it is. Why, though? I haven't done anythin' yet. I ain't got no money to pay for it.”

 

“You don't need to pay for it, kid”, Gabriel said, sitting down opposite him. The mess hall had four long tables with benches on each side of them, all of which were empty at this hour. “It's part of the job. Now eat up, you've got a long day ahead of you.”

 

Jesse didn't protest. Gabriel sipped the coffee he had gotten for himself and watched the kid in silence while he ate, wolfing it down like it was the first food he had gotten in days. Maybe it was. Gabriel didn't want to think too much about it.

 

He had argued with Jack about Jesse last night, during the post-mission debrief. The truth was, Gabriel didn't want Jesse in Blackwatch. While it was safer than being a gang member, it was still more than dangerous work, plenty of agents getting hurt or killed, despite Gabriel's efforts to keep that from happening. The kid was just seventeen. He shouldn't be in a gang, or in a covert operations organization. He should have been in school and hanging out with friends. He should have been allowed to be a teenager and allowed to be a dumb kid.

 

Gabriel wanted Jack to make Jesse into an Overwatch agent instead of a Blackwatch one. Jack had said no. Jesse was a wanted criminal, despite his young age, and making him an Overwatch agent was bound to raise questions, both within the organization and from the rest of the world. Jack agreed that Jesse's situation was unfortunate, but also admitted that he'd rather have Gabriel send Jesse to jail than allow him to join Blackwatch. It wasn't the first time Gabriel had “adopted” former gang members into his service. Jack didn't like it.

 

Jack could go blow himself.

 

When the kid was finished Gabriel took him to the shooting range. Most of the lanes were occupied already, and plenty of people cast long glances at Jesse and whispered between each other. Gabriel shot them stern looks and was thankful the more of less constant sound of gunfire drowned out most other noises. Jesse either didn't notice people staring, or he didn't care.

 

Gabriel handed him a gun. Jesse frowned at it.

 

“This is mine”, he said. 

 

“I know.” An agent had confiscated it when Jesse was arrested and it had been labeled and brought in along with all the other confiscated guns, which was a lot. “I want to see you shoot with it.” Gabriel had tried it out earlier and found that the aiming was off by quite a bit, plus the reloading mechanism sometimes jammed, slowing down the process considerably. 

 

Jesse took the gun and turned towards the targets. They were standing still, not too far away. Before Gabriel could hand him some earplugs, or use some himself, Jesse had fired two shots towards the targets.

 

“Jesus kid, calm down”, Gabriel sighed once his ears stopped ringing. He dug around his pockets for a couple of packages with earplugs and handed a couple to Jesse. As Jesse put them in, looking slightly sheepish, Gabriel squinted at the target Jesse had hit. It was more or less a bull's eye with both shots. He nodded a little, pleased. “Good.”

 

Jesse looked at him with an expression he couldn't quite figure out. Ignoring it, Gabriel told him to keep going, and Jesse did. He could shoot near bull's eye on pretty much anything Gabriel threw at him, no matter the distance or speed the targets had. The gun didn't jam once while the kid was using it; either he had figured out exactly how to handle it or he just happened to have the best of luck. Gabriel guessed it was the first alternative. After a while he swapped Jesse's old gun for a new one, a Blackwatch standard. It only took a minute or two for Jesse to get a handle on it.

 

The floor around them rattled with gleaming cartridges. Gabriel tapped the kid on the shoulder and gestured for him to take out the earplugs.

 

“Good job. Can you take it apart?” Gabriel wondered, nodding towards the gun. Jesse did so with lightning quick fingers, not complaining about the metal, which was still hot after the firing. “Put it back together.” Again Jesse did as he was told, Gabriel watching over the process. The kid didn't even come near to making a mistake. 

 

Gabriel had him try out a couple of different weapons, machine guns and shotguns, which the kid handled well enough, but he excelled with a simple handgun. Gabriel wasn't surprised; it was likely all Jesse had used during his time in Deadlock.

 

They had time to catch a late lunch, and again the kid ate like he expected to not get any food ever again, before the afternoon cardio training was set to start. During the days the weather was nice, like today, the training was outside. Gabriel liked to join them, partly because he liked to see how the agents were doing, and partly because he knew they appreciated their commander training alongside them. They went running along the lengthy tracks around the base, tackled the obstacle course and did pushups and pullups by the hundreds.

 

Jesse didn't handle the cardio as well as the shooting. He threw up after a while, a result of eating too much for lunch and pushing himself harder than he was use to. He wasn't particularly fit, a skinny thing who was clearly more used to sneaking around and catching his opponents by surprise rather than meeting them head on. That was fine, in Gabriel's opinion, but the kid needed to learn how to do both.

 

When Jesse started lagging behind during the running Gabriel slowed down, sticking with him. He knew how much it sucked getting left behind while everyone else ran ahead, and the feeling of inadequacy that burnt in your chest because of it.

 

Gabriel paused for a moment while Jesse leaned against a tree, lungs heaving, face gleaming with sweat.

 

“Fuckin' hell, I need a smoke”, Jesse wheezed. Gabriel snorted. 

 

“No wonder you've got shit cardio.” He crossed his arms, cocking his head to one side. “You starting to regret this?” No answer. Gabriel hadn't expected one. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, what you lack in cardio you make up for with your shooting.”

 

Jesse raised his head and looked up at him, his eyes oddly pained. There was an unexpected jab at Gabriel's heart, and he had to avert his gaze to hide it.

 

“Come on, let's keep going.”

 

* * *

 

 

Jesse was obviously sore and aching the following day, his movements stiff and slow. It pleased Gabriel somehow, knowing that despite struggling and despite hurting, the kid had still pulled through the training and showed up the next day for more. It made him think Jesse wasn't doing this just because he had to, but because at least some small part of him wanted to.

 

The routine continued daily; target practice in the mornings and cardio in the afternoons. Gabriel couldn't join in on it every day, as he had missions to debrief, reports to write and operations to lead, but he did whenever he could. He was glad to see Jesse improving along with the other agents, even though he didn't seem to grow closer to any of them. No one seemed to particularly like Jesse, and in a way Gabriel couldn't blame them. Plenty of the Blackwatch agents came from criminal backgrounds and the distrust ran deep in them; it had taken Gabriel years to get anything more than a name out of most of them. He also didn't doubt that several of the other agents had suffered losses at the hands of Deadlock, or even at the hands of Jesse.

 

Two of Gabriel's agents had gotten killed by Jesse during the operation when they busted Deadlock. Their names had been Kevin and Frida. Even though Gabriel mourned them he didn't blame Jesse for what he had done. He had only been doing his job, just like Kevin and Frida had been.

 

Not everyone saw it that way.

 

A couple of weeks had passed when Gabriel came back from a three day operation on the east coast, nothing big and nothing they couldn't handle. He got back during the late afternoon, just in time to swing by the cardio training and check out how the agents were doing.

 

They were doing the obstacle course, two and two or three and three at a time, encouraged by one of the older agents who acted as a supervisor while Gabriel was away. The agents waiting for their turn were sitting in the shade underneath a nearby tree, and Gabriel wandered over to them; they all fell silent when he approached. Gabriel raised an eyebrow at them, already sensing something was off.

 

His eyes fell on Jesse.

 

The kid was sitting off to the side, away from the others, head hanging and shoulders hunched, like he was trying to hide himself. He had a cracked lip and a massive black eye, and Gabriel didn't need to check to know that he had bruises and cuts underneath his clothes as well.

 

“McCree”, Gabriel said, taking a step closer. Jesse reluctantly looked up at him. “What happened to you?”

 

“Fell in the obstacle course, sir”, Jesse replied, voice muted. Gabriel let his gaze wander from the kid to the other agents. A couple of them were pretty good at feigning innocence, but most of them looked incredibly guilty. 

 

To Gabriel's relief, the supervising agent called over the ones who were waiting, and they seemed happy for an excuse to get away from Gabriel. Jesse seemed to realize that Gabriel wanted him to stay without him having to say anything.

 

Gabriel squatted down next to the kid, studying him. Jesse made a point of not meeting his gaze.

 

“Who did this to you?” Gabriel asked, again. 

 

“Obstacle course, sir.”

 

“ _Don't give me that bullshit_.” Gabriel spoke Spanish now, thinking it might get the kid to open up a bit. “ _Now tell me_.” He could see Jesse's shoulders droop a bit. 

 

“… _Couple of the others beat me up_.”

 

“ _They got a reason_ _?_ ”

 

Jesse shrugged.

 

“ _I'm Deadlock. S'reason enough._ ”

 

“Y _ou're not Deadlock. Not anymore_ ”, Gabriel said, which made Jesse look up at him. “ _Even if you were,_ _I don't tolerate that kind of shit around here. Now tell me who did it, and they won't do it again._ ”

 

“ _I ain't no snitch_ ”, Jesse bit, offended at the suggestion. Gabriel stared him down, raising an eyebrow. For a moment, they simply looked at each other. Finally, Jesse broke the eye contact and gave him three names; the identities of the perpetrators didn't surprise Gabriel, as they were part of the agents who always started trouble. 

 

“Good”, Gabriel said, standing up. “If anyone tries to start shit with you again, you come straight to me, you hear me?”

 

There was a pause before Jesse nodded.

 

* * *

 

 

Things went better for a couple of weeks after Gabriel scolded the people who had beat Jesse up. The kid didn't run into any more trouble, did well in cardio training and excelled at the shooting range. He was better than most of the other agents, almost rivaling Gabriel himself, who was torn between annoyance and some kind of strange pride, as if it was his doing. The truth was, the kid was a natural; there was no way anyone in Blackwatch could teach Jesse something he didn't already know about killing.

 

Gabriel knew Jesse would get cocky about it sooner or later, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon.

 

It was during an afternoon training session that the kid simply didn't show up. It was the first time it had happened as far as Gabriel was aware, and he immediately knew it had something to do with the shooting scores that had been posted earlier during the day. Jesse was in the top five, above plenty of agents who were older and more experienced.

 

Slightly irritated, Gabriel took it upon himself to sweep the base and find Jesse. It didn't take him long, as he already knew of several places where the kid seemed to like hanging out during his time off.

 

He found Jesse over by the outdoors combat training grounds, where most people didn't go unless they were training there. Gabriel guessed Jesse wanted to be alone there, which was fine if he did it during his free time, but not if he decided to do it during scheduled training.

 

“McCree”, Gabriel said, greeting him. Jesse looked up at him; he was smoking, leaning against a large crate. “Is there any reason you're not doing the cardio this afternoon?” Gabriel stopped a couple of meters away from him, arms crossed. 

 

Jesse blew out a cloud of smoke, looking away.

 

“Don't need it.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“You saw the shootin' scores, didntcha?”

 

Gabriel couldn't help but roll his eyes.

 

“Your scores ain't got shit to do with how fit you are. You're nowhere near the other agents in terms of physical form.”

 

Jesse sneered.

 

“Don't need to be fit if I can jus' shoot people in the head.” He took another drag of his cigarette. 

 

“And when you're out of bullets?” Gabriel asked. “How far can you run?” As he had been expecting, Jesse didn't answer, his expression darkening. “Cardio training isn't just about being fit. It's about discipline, something you clearly lack.”

 

“Whatever”, Jesse said, clearly at the lack of a better response. Gabriel _tsk_ -ed, which apparently annoyed the kid. “You don't even know what I can do.”

 

“Sure I do. I've seen your scores. I know exactly what you can do.”

 

“Then why dontcha let me do it?” Jesse turned to face him, anger flaring in his eyes. Gabriel simply studied at him for a moment. 

 

“You want to get out in the field.”

 

“Hell yeah.” When Gabriel paused again Jesse pushed himself off the crate, taking a step closer. “You said I'd get to do the same thing I did in Deadlock. That's bullshit. All I've been doin' is runnin' around and doin' obstacle courses for the past month.”

 

“McCree”, Gabriel said, slowly. “You some kind of idiot?” He could see Jesse's jaw clench, and he took a drag of his cigarette. “You don't want to get out in the field. No one wants to get out in the field. People get hurt and die. You'd get hurt and die.”

 

“The fuck do you care? I'm sick of bein' stuck here, I wanna get out”, Jesse said, voice raised, stomping his foot on the ground for emphasis. Gabriel had to bite back a laugh despite his annoyance; Jesse really did look like nothing more than a kid when he did that. For a long moment, they just looked at each other. Gabriel noticed Jesse's ears had gone slightly red. Maybe he had realized the ridiculousness of his argument as well. 

 

Gabriel sighed.

 

“Why are you even smoking that shit?” he wondered, softly. Jesse seemed a bit taken aback. Gabriel fished around his a pocket and pulled out a package of cigarillos. He didn't smoke very often, but he liked carrying a package for when the urge hit. Plus, he liked being able to share with his men. He took out a cigarillo and handed it over to Jesse, who took it even though he looked suspicious. “Come on.”

 

Gabriel walked over to the crate Jesse had been leaning against and relaxed against it, lighting up his cigarillo and taking a long drag. Hesitantly, Jesse discarded his cigarette and lit up his cigarillo instead, breathing in deeply. He made an appreciative face.

 

“Better?” Gabriel asked. He could tell the kid was calming down again. 

 

“Uh. Yeah.”

 

After a beat, Jesse sunk down on the crate next to Gabriel. He looked almost a bit ashamed, but Gabriel wouldn't bother him too much about it.

 

“You know what we do in the field?” Gabriel said, peering at the kid. “It's not all running and gunning. Most of the time it's not. We don't operate like Overwatch does. We don't get the high-profile jobs, the large scale operations. We work under the radar, in the shadows. The media has no idea what we're doing.” He took another drag of his cigarillo. “Hell, Overwatch itself doesn't know what we're doing most of the time.”

 

“What do you do then?” Jesse wondered, cautiously. 

 

“We're the ones who do everything Overwatch doesn't want to be associated with. We're the ones who take over when shit starts going south. We're the ones who clean up after Overwatch, disposing bodies and mopping up the blood and shit. We're the ones who don't end up on the evening news unless something goes wrong. We're the ones no one talks about.” Gabriel turned to look at Jesse. “We're the ones keeping this whole thing running.”

 

Jesse averted his gaze. Gabriel could tell his words affected him, which was good. He needed the kid to know.

 

“… Sounds like shit work.”

  
“It is. Still, someone's gotta do it.” Gabriel paused for a moment. “That someone's me. Now it's you too.” Another pause. “You got that?”

 

For quite a while, Jesse said nothing. Gabriel refused to speak as well, keeping a strict eye on the kid, watching his reaction. Finally, Jesse nodded.

 

“Good”, Gabriel said. They sat together in silence, finishing their smokes. Gabriel could tell the kid was slightly uncomfortable by his presence, and quietly wished he wouldn't be. He didn't want to fight with Jesse; he wanted the kid to trust him. “Alright.” Gabriel stood up, tossing away the end of his cigarillo. “Come with me.”

 

Jesse hesitated, looking up at him. Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

 

“Come on”, he said, rolling his eyes. “I'm not gonna kill you.”

 

The kid pushed himself off the crate and solemnly followed Gabriel, still looking like he was expecting a punishment. Gabriel took him to one of the indoors training rooms, which was currently not in use as most agents were outside. Jesse hadn't been in there before, and the look on his face was suspicious.

 

“Here.” Gabriel walked over to a large table, pushing a button on its side and activating it. The entire surface lit up; it was a touchscreen, one of the fancier pieces of technology they had received from Overwatch. Jesse padded closer, looking like he was trying his best to not be curious. 

 

Gabriel loaded up one of the simpler combat training programs, and a hologram flickered into existence above the table. It showed a top down structure of a building, randomly generated, complete with doors and windows. At one entrance to the building stood a lone figure, a simplified person with a Blackwatch logo above their head. Gabriel pointed to it.

 

“This is you”, he said, looking up at Jesse. “Somewhere in this building there is vital information which you need to find. There are also hostiles about. Only use lethal violence as a last resort. Got it?”

 

“Uh. Okay.” Jesse stepped a little closer, looking down at the hologram. “How many enemies?”

 

“Five to ten.”

 

“You mean you dunno?” he wondered, frowning, looking up again. Gabriel shrugged. 

 

“We usually don't. We normally have a rough estimation, but that's it. Usually we don't even have building plans. Then you'd have to stumble through it blindly, discovering the rooms and doorways as you go.” He cocked his head to one side. “But that's for another day.”

 

“Right.” Jesse seemed to take a deep breath. “So how's it work?”

 

Gabriel showed him the controls for his character on his side of the table. There were plenty of more spaces; all in all, six people could use the simulation at once. They did sometimes, though not nearly enough in Gabriel's opinion. Personally, he liked the holographic combat training. It forced the agents to think in a different way, seeing everything from above instead of being trapped in the middle of it. It forced them to be strategic and think about their decisions. It was a bit like a game, only everyone who played it knew it might come true during their next mission.

 

“Tell me what you're going to do before you do it”, Gabriel said. Again the kid frowned. 

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I want to hear your reasoning for it.” When Jesse didn't look convinced, Gabriel continued. “Saying your thoughts out loud makes you really _think_ about what you're doing, instead of just doing it. So tell me. Which way do you go first?”

 

Jesse looked down at the building, considering it.

 

“Left.”

 

“Why?”

 

“'Cause it's dumb to go right into the middle of the buildin', even if that's probably where the information is. If ya go into the middle you'll be surrounded on all sides.”

 

“Why not go right?” Gabriel asked. 

 

“'Cause I'm right handed”, Jesse explained. “It's a lot easier fer me to handle someone comin' from the front or the right. If I go to the left, I'll be covered on that side.”

 

Gabriel smiled a little.

 

“Good”, he said, nodding, giving Jesse permission to continue. 

 

The simulation kept going for a while, and Jesse did much better than Gabriel had expected him to. Again he felt oddly proud, like it was his doing. The kid methodically stalked through the building, subduing a couple of hostiles, being surprisingly stealthy. He didn't blunder into any fights, like Gabriel had thought he would but instead took it slow, strategically. At first, Gabriel almost suspected Jesse was pushing himself to impress him, but after a while he realized that the kid was actually genuinely smart.

 

They were nearing the end of the simulation, Jesse having explored almost the entire building, when he hit a snag. There was an enemy around a corner, which in itself wasn't an issue, but if he were to step out he would also leave his back exposed to an unknown part of the building.

 

“I'm almost done, I'll just take the chance”, the kid said. 

 

“Oh will you now?”

 

“Yeah.” Jesse shrugged. He seemed to have realized how well he was doing and had grown cocky again. “I've taken out seven guards already, there can't be that many more left.”

 

“You don't know that. There might be three still left. More than enough to overwhelm you and take you out.”

 

“I can handle three people”, Jesse protested. Gabriel cocked an eyebrow. 

 

“You willing to bet your life on that?” he wondered. He could see the hesitation in Jesse's eyes, and grasped at it. “You willing to bet your partner's life on that?” He clicked a button and another figure showed up, standing by the entrance. 

 

“Hey!” Jesse exclaimed, annoyed. “You never said I had a partner!”

 

“You always do, kid. There's always gonna be at least one more agent with you. Now, your partner has been standing guard by the entrance while you've been running around inside and they're getting a bit worried. Haven't heard from you in a while.” Gabriel took control of the other character and moved it inside, to the right. “Gonna come looking for you.”

 

“Can't I just radio them to tell them I'm okay? That I've got it under control?”

 

“And reveal your location to the hostile there?” Gabriel said, nodding towards the enemy near Jesse's character. 

 

Jesse grumbled slightly.

 

In the end, he took the risk anyway and stepped out of hiding to subdue the enemy. There was, however, another one, right in the kid's blind spot. Things looked a little hairy for a while, but Jesse pulled through, clearing the building of hostiles and finding the information without getting himself or his partner hurt.

 

“See? I did it”, Jesse said, puffing himself up, clearly proud of himself. Gabriel nodded a bit. 

 

“Yeah, you did”, he agreed. “Good job, kid.” Jesse blinked, in a way that looked almost surprised. Gabriel couldn't help but smile a little. “You've got a good head, when you actually use it.” He paused for a moment, studying the kid. “Tell you what. I'll let you skip cardio training twice a week if you come here and do combat sims instead. How does that sound?”

 

For a moment, Jesse just stared at him.

 

“Uh. Yeah”, he then said. “Sure.”

 

“Good. Next time it'll be a lot more difficult.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> You can follow me on tumblr for updates and stuff! http://kaijuborn.tumblr.com/


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